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Center for Ethics & Religious Affairs gives students ethical and spiritual compass

By Andy Elder, Student Affairs Writer

When students come to Penn State, they can count on receiving a world-class education from eminently qualified professors in state of the art facilities.

But what if they require ethical direction, spiritual enrichment, or character guidance?

They can turn to the Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs (CERA), a unit of Student Affairs.

“Generally speaking, CERA’s mission is to educate students and the university community about cultural and religious diversity as well as providing opportunities for the development and understanding of one’s own sense of spiritual and ethical development,” said Davin Carr-Chellman, assistant director of the Center.

That mission is fulfilled in a number of ways.

“We organize panel discussions about how different faith traditions approach and understand issues such as politics, sexuality, church/state relations, human rights, etc. These panels are useful for faculty when discussing religious diversity, and they are useful for many of our student organizations and university units when they are wanting to address similar issues,” Carr-Chellman said.

“Similarly, we often show movies that address important social and religious issues such as Mississippi Burning, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Monsoon Wedding. At the beginning of every fall semester, we sponsor a health and spirituality fair to educate about the deep connection between religious traditions, spirituality and health. Perhaps most importantly, we are constantly trying to create opportunities for the more than 55 religious and spiritual student organizations to learn about each other and themselves.”

The hub around which all of these activities and initiatives revolve is the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. Officially dedicated in May 2003, the center has been hailed as an architectural marvel. And in those intervening 18 months, students have flocked to it.

“Last year, more than 170,000 students came here for a meeting of some sort. The new Spiritual Center doubled the space we can use for programming, but we are operating at nearly full capacity. Based on that scenario, we have tremendous student participation,” Carr-Chellman said.

Those students’ reaction to the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center has been overwhelmingly positive.

“The architecture is stunning to most, as is the fact that a place like this exists at Penn State,” Carr-Chellman said. “Most students think that it is a very peaceful place and a great place to meet, study and relax.”

When, inevitably, parents find their way to the Spiritual Center, their reaction is strikingly similar to those of their sons and daughters.

“Many parents and alumni who come through here feel a strong sense of comfort that Penn State is interested in the spiritual side of their students,” Carr-Chellman said.

“No matter their religious tradition, there is something happening at CERA and the Spiritual Center that can meet their needs. The opportunities available here are staggering. If parents let us know who they are and how to contact them, we can connect them to a wonderful community of genuine, caring people.”

CERA’s reach extends beyond the bounds of the University Park campus to the surrounding communities.

“We are trying to establish some solid town and gown relationships, which will hopefully nurture some very positive programs and events for the university community. This effort has already borne some fruit in our recent Community Spiritual Emphasis Week, which featured several local religious organizations worshiping on campus,” Carr-Chellman said.

“There are some very productive partnerships than can be developed to better serve our students’ needs. We are a unique place with a unique mission, which provides some unique opportunities to make our students feel at home in this very large university.”

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